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Showerthought: Why do so many sci-fi heroes ignore basic safety protocols?
I've been binge-watching a lot of old sci-fi shows lately, and I keep seeing the same dumb mistake. The scientists or explorers find some new alien tech, and instead of running tests, they just plug it in right away. Like, hello, have you never heard of contamination or security checks? It's like they want things to go wrong. I remember one episode where this caused a whole space station to get infected with a weird virus. Why do the smartest people in the room always do the stupidest things? It makes you think about how in real life, we'd probably do the same if we got too excited. But in these stories, it just feels lazy, like the writers need a quick way to start the plot. Still, it's fun to yell at the screen when you see it coming.
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olivia_mitchell458mo ago
Excitement rarely leads to skipping rules? I've seen it happen.
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ross.logan8mo ago
You mentioned that in real life we'd probably do the same if excited. But in real high-stakes fields, safety rules are so ingrained that excitement rarely leads to skipping them. That's why this sci-fi habit feels like a cheap shortcut for drama.
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claire7178mo ago
Recall what @ross.logan said about safety rules being ingrained. I used to find those sci-fi shortcuts really frustrating. What worked for me was chatting with people in actual high-stakes jobs, like EMTs or engineers. They explained how protocol becomes second nature, so who would risk everything on a whim? It made me see how lazy writing relies on drama instead of character depth.
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wright.claire8mo ago
But how do writers show that deep protocol without making it boring? Real tension comes from sticking to rules under stress, lol.
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